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Bug Squad

Bug Squad blog image depicts a honey bee sting in action.

Welcome to the Bug Squad blog! The Bug Squad blog was launched Aug. 6, 2008 and is a daily blog (Monday through Friday). It showcases entomologists and the work they do.  The blog focuses on scientists in the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, the Bohart Museum of Entomology, Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility, the UC Davis Bee Haven, and assorted campuswide events, including UC Davis Picnic Day, UC Davis Biodiversity Museum Day, and Bohart Museum open houses. The blog spotlights insects, including bees, butterflies, dragonflies, and praying mantises, as well as arachnids such as jumping spiders and crab spiders. Author and photographer is Kathy Keatley Garvey, communications specialist, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, and a longtime journalist and community scientist with two degrees from Washington State University.  She is a member of the Entomological Society of America (ESA) and the Association for Communication Excellence (ACE). Her blog posts and images have won international awards from ACE and ESA and appeared on journal and magazine covers. She shoots primarily with a Nikon Z-8 mirrorless camera, a Nikon D500 and Nikon 800, with assorted macro lenses. Feedspot lists it as one of the top entomology blogs on the Internet. 

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UC Davis doctoral candidate Shawn Christensen

Congratulations, Microbiologist Shawn Christensen: Best Dissertation

May 14, 2024
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Congratulations to UC Davis outstanding scientist Shawn Christensen, a doctoral candidate and microbiologist who was just selected the 2024 recipient of the Merton Love Ecology and Dissertation Award, an annual award that celebrates the university's most outstanding doctoral dissertation in the fiel...
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A bumble bee forages on Coreopsis in Vacaville. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Get Ready...It's Happening...World Bee Day...

May 13, 2024
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Get ready...it's happening...the annual World Bee Day... Monday, May 20 is World Bee Day, as declared by the United Nations "to raise awareness of the importance of pollinators, the threats they face, and their contribution to sustainable development.
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A lady beetle, aka ladybug, with newly deposited eggs. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Happy Mother's Day!

May 10, 2024
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
In the human world, we recognize Mother's Day as a special day to celebrate all mothers. It's a day that Anna Jarvis of Grafton, West Va., established on May 10, 1909 with a worship service at St. Andrew's Methodist Church, Grafton. Lady beetles, aka ladybugs, are mothers, too.
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